Thomas Young

author

Thomas Young

1773–1829

A brilliant British polymath, Thomas Young transformed our understanding of light, vision, language, and ancient Egypt. Best known for his work on light interference and Young’s modulus, he pursued questions across medicine, physics, physiology, and linguistics.

3 Audiobooks

An account of some recent discoveries in hieroglyphical literature, and Egyptian antiquities : including the author's original alphabet, as extended by Mr. Champollion, with a translation of five unpublished Greek and Egyptian manuscripts

An account of some recent discoveries in hieroglyphical literature, and Egyptian antiquities : including the author's original alphabet, as extended by Mr. Champollion, with a translation of five unpublished Greek and Egyptian manuscripts

by Thomas Young

On the mechanism of the eye

On the mechanism of the eye

by Thomas Young

On the theory of light and colours

On the theory of light and colours

by Thomas Young

About the author

Thomas Young (1773–1829) was an English physician, physicist, and Egyptologist born in Milverton, Somerset. Raised in a Quaker family, he showed an extraordinary talent for languages and scholarship from an early age, eventually studying medicine in London, Edinburgh, and Göttingen before establishing a medical practice in London.

Young made important contributions to physical optics, helping establish the wave theory of light and demonstrating the phenomenon of interference. His work also influenced the study of elasticity, vision, sound, physiology, and energy; the term “Young’s modulus” commemorates his research into the stiffness of materials.

He also studied ancient languages and played a role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs through his work on the Rosetta Stone. A member of the Royal Society and a respected scientific writer, Young died in London on May 10, 1829.